Sleeping-car.



.F. BRAOKETT. SLEEPING GAR.

v APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5, 1910. I 1,048, 31. Patented-Dec. 24,1912.

2 sums-sum 1.

' F. BRAOKETT.

SLEEPING on. APPLICATION FILED OUT. 5, 1910.

Patented Dec.24,1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

anue-Micvo I W 'nNrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK BRAGKETT, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. I

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREonmoK-Bmomrr, a citizen of the United States,residing at \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented newand useful Improvements in Sleeping-Cars, of which'the fol- J lowing isa -spec1fication.- .7

The objects of my invent-ion are varied.

Among them the more important may be mentioned. I aim to obtain moreroom in the berths of sleeping cars, to eliminate the disadvantages ofthe upper berth, and to place it on an equal footing with the lowerberths, to better ventilation, to secure more uniform and agreeableheating, to reduce the cinder deposits on seats, and to removeobjectionable features of travel due to cindersydirt and dust, toprovide added congers to such degree as is at present the case.

veniences for passengers, to increase the facility with which berths maybe made and manufacture, and to render the parts and mechanisms of thesleeping compartments more durable. i In the attainment of the objectsof vention, I divide a car having a housin the usual form centrally by alongitudinal partition extending nearly to each end' of the car, locatethe seats on opposite sides of this my in partition with their endsabutting the par tition, and provide an aisle on each side outside ofthe seats.- It, should at once be apparent that passengers will have thesame view through the windows ofthe car across,

the aisle as they have with the seats immediately adjacent the windows,the interruption due to passage of people up and down the aisle beingonly slight. Further it should be apparent that due to the removal ofthe seats from the immediate proximity of the windows, dust, dirt, andcinders blowing in through the windows, will fall for the most partinthe aisle, and will not deposit on the seats andinconvenience thepassen- Further I form a lower berth ineach compartment by making thebed of the berth of two seats' which face each other, and of a berthsection adapted to fill the space norm ally present between the twoseats the said additional section being associated with andSLEEPING-CAR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec, 24, 1912,

Application filed October 5, 1910. Serial No. 585,530.

- height of the upper ends of the backs in vnor- Preferably these backs]are mal position. hinged at.their-upper edges and are adapted to beswung upwardly and outwardly into the plane of the bed of the upperberth. A filling section, similar to the filling section of the lowerberth, is associated with the partition above the section of the lowerberth, and, 1n 3, similar manner by'niaking the backs of the seats ofa'suitable height all the space now available in lowerberths may besecured in this arrangemenband more, while in the upper berths owing tothe central location of the berths considerable additional space isavailable owing to the Sufficient space" is raised roofs of cars.readily had by this arrangement to enable a person of average height tostand in'the upper berth; I 1

In both the upper and lower berths I provide suitable lockers and racksfor thereception of clothing and personal articles,

and in the upper berth I provide two drop seats associated with thecentral partition: or

dividing wall' and adapted to be supported by the wall in position to beused by the occupant above at will, and tobe readily stored away whendesired. Still further in the attainment of the objects of my inventionI make'the central partition or wall of suflicient thickness'to givespace for lockers in its interior, andso di- 1.

mension these lockers and so form the doors" therefor that the doors maybe'swung 'outwardly to form compartment partitionsiim mediately abovethe skeleton backs of the seats which form compartment partitionsibetween the lower berths.

The arrangement of the berths withf'respect to the roofing of the earand with'respect to the heating system is such that excellentventilation and ,heating is secured,

and that the comfort of increased.

In the accompanying drawings I show Onewemboclill'ientof my invention,which embodiment is the best form of my inventiori now known to me, butit will be evident uppn an understanding of this embodiment-,that myinvention may be given other forms without de artin from its P g genericspirit.

f the drawings -Figure '1 is a perspec tive view of the compartment ofthe sleeping car of my invention with the seats in their normalcondition, that is with the berths broken; Fig. 2 is a perspective Viewof the same compartment showing the berths made, and the compartmentpartitions 1n position; Fig. 3 is a transverse section of a sleeping cartaken centrally through the opposed compartments, showing the berths inposition for use and the seats dropped down; Fig. 4 is a plan view ofthe car with a centrally raised roof portion 11. This. A 30.

siderable thickness, the'partition having .at'

of my invention with the'roof removed to show the interior arrangementof the seats; Fig. 5 is a detail of an upper berth step.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, designates'the mainbody of the housing of the car which is provided housing is dividedcentrally for a suitable distance by a partition or wall 12 of coneachside a double wall form'edby boarding 13 and '14: spaced apart. Seats 15and 16 are arranged in'the usual manner facing each other andtransversely of the car on opposite sides of this partition, with oneend abutting the partition and with the other end on an aisle 16 betweenthese other ends of the seats and the side of the car. Thus the car isdivided into two halves, over each half of which a conductor has anunobstructod vision when the seats are in their nbrmal condition for daytraveling as shown in Fig. 1. The seats being removed from the Windowsprevents the ready access of cinders, dust and dirt to them, and at the,

same time gives the passengers the same view of the windows as would bebad if the seats were placed abutting the side walls of the car.

Hinged centrally of each compartment on partition 12 is a section 17,hinged by hinges at its lower end and on its inner edge, so that itsbody is against thepartition as shownin Fig. 1, and so that it liesparallel to the face of said partition when it is raised. This sectionis of the same length as the seats and is adapted to be lowered to aposition between them as shown in Fig. 2, 'and to completethe' bed ofthe lower berth. The space previously occupied by it may when is laiddown he used forstoring clothing, and other articles of hinged at theirupper ends in such a manner that they may be turned upwardly to posi:tion shown in Fig. 2 by simply moving the cushions 15 and 16 of theseats to release their lower ends. They may be positioned in horizontalplane at the normal hei ht of the backs of the seatsas shown in ig. 2.Immediately above the section 17 which completes the bed of the lowerberthis a similar but narrower section 19 which is hinged at one endagainst the outer boarding 14, and adapted, when not in use, to swingupwardly against the boarding l4.

pa ssengersisgreat-ly apparel. The backs 18 or" these seats are Thissection l9 is of a width sufficient :to

completely fill in the jspace between the lower edges of the backs 18when the latter are raised into a horizontal plane to complete the upperberth. The opening in the boarding 14, as best seen in Fig. 3, whichregisters with the section 19 receives bedding and the like carried onthe section 19 when the latter is raised up out of the way, thecompartment behind theboarding 14: housing the bedding. Any desired andsuitable fastening means may be provided for retaining the sections 17and 19 upright in the partitions, as for instance the locks 19"indicated by outline in Fig. 1. Pins 21 in. f

the seats 15 and 16, and in the lower ends of their backs 18, are adated to enter holes 21 in the sections 17 an 19 to hold their outer endsin place. By making the backs of the berths of suilicient height, thespace between the lower and upperberths may be made anything desired. Itwill be observed that the seats terminate substantially under thebeginning of the rise in the roof, and that there is therefore quite aspace available in the upperberth by virtue of the location of theberths beneath the rise 11. Thisspaoe is such as to enable a person ofordinary height to. stand within the berth.

The mattresses are stored within lockers 22 in the space between thewalls 13 and1-lof the partition 12. The doors 23 of these lockers arehinged at the corners of the compartment,-and are adapted to swingoutwardly to the position 'shown in Fig. 2 and constitute compartmentpartitions between i the upper berthsin the same manner as the skeletonbacks 24 constitute compartment partitions between the lower berthsfWhen the mattresses are removed the space which they occupied isavailable for storing clothing, and I provide suitable hooks within thelockers-in each case for this purpose. Further T provide seats 25movable toward and from the boarding 13, and in this instance hinged tothe boarding 13 at one end in such a manner that they may be swungoutwardly as shown in Fig. 2. Their outer-ends may be supported by cords26 or by other means.

Above the aisles and in the angles between the sides and the roof, areprovided racks. 27mthe receipt of articles from the upper berth. Lockers28 are also provided in the uppen compartments above the foldingsections 19 for the convenient use of passengers, these lockers 28 beingsecured against the V boarding 14.

The curtain usually used is mounted on a pole 29 supported immed atelybelow the racks 27, and serves its usual functions.

Steps 30 and 31, hingedto the sides of the q seatposts 32 of the seats,and adapted .to

automatically swing upwardly and out of the way when not in use areprovided for convenient reaching of the upper berth. As

. shown a silnile sairal S)1l11 in connection with a hinge secures thesteps in their folded position. (See Iig. 5.)

That the ventilation of this car will be excellent will be readilyunderstood when it is considered that the upper side lights 33 may 1 bereadily manipulated by the porter, and

that circulation of air takes place through these and through the bottomgratings 34 in the floor of the car. The heating apparatus 35 is locatedin its usual place on the sides of the car, and the rising heated airwill pass into both berths, and passing through the racks 27 willescapethrough the side lights That I have obtained the objects of myinvention and that I have further produced a sleeping. car in which theparts maybe made with great facility and the parts of which are combinedto secure the best efiiciency should be apparent. y

1. In a sleepingcar, a sleeping compartment comprising a wall,- twoseats arranged .faci-ng each other at right anglesto .said

wall and spaced apart, the backsot sa d seats being adapted tobe raisedto a horizontalplane to form a bed, a small bed sec; tion hinged againstsaid wall and normally resting in a folded up position and adapted to belowered to fill-thegap between the two raised backs ofthe seats, lockersin said .wall' on opposite sides 10f said bed. section, bo anddoors forsaid lockers,'the said doors skeleton'backs of the seats.

being of dimensions adapting them for service as compartment partitionsabove the 2. In a sleeping car, a sleeping 'compart-,

i'nent comprising a wall, two seats arranged facingeach other at rightangles to said Wa'lland spaced apart, the backs ofQsaid seats beingadapted to be raised to a} horizontal plane t'o form a bed, .a small-a'bed section hinged near said wall .andbeing normally folded up to avertical position and adapted .to be lowered to fillthe, gap betweenliars-3 the two raised backs of the seats,

"bed

section, and doors for said lockers hinged on the sides adjacent thebacks of the seats, and of a. dimension adapting them for service. ascompartment partitions above the skeletonbacks of the seats.

In a sleeping car a central partition,

boarding spaced from the side of the par tition to provide a storagecompartment, skeleton backs outstanding in parallel spaced relation fromthe partition, opposed seats arranged the lower ends of the skeletonbacks, hin ed'backs mounted upon the upper ends of the skeleton backsand adapted to swing up into parallelism with the seats, a lower berthsection hinged against the partition and adapted to join thefiseats toform backs hinged at their upper ends and adapted to swing up intd ahorizontal plane, a section hinged against the partition between theseats and adapted to swing down and close the spacetbetiveen the seatsto form a. lower berth, and a second section hinged against the boardingand adapted to swing down between the ,raised backs to form an upperberth, said panels being adapted to swing outwardly and meet the hingedends of the backs to close the ends of the upper berth. p e

5. In a sleeping car, acentral and longitudinal partition,, 'saiidpartition having storage spaces formed at one\ side of the same, panelshinged to the partition and adapted to normally close the storagespaces, seatsoutstanding from the partition and being arranged to faceone another, superposed hingedsections carried against the partitionbetween the seats, the lower one of the sections beiiig adapted to swingdown between thehprizontal portionsof the seats and the upper, sectionbeing adaptedto swing down in parallelism'with andabove the firstsection, ,said seats having backs adapted to swing iipwardl'y-into ahorizontal plane and meet the opposite edges of the upper section, saidupper section being adapted to rest ,againstflthe partition toeljose'the storage space-therein. I

'6; In ,a sleeping ,"c'ar,-a having'storage spaces at its oppositesides, opposed seats outst-anding from? theopposite sides ofthe lvfall,said seat-s having 'Fback'S adapted to swing upwardl t e fl h i z e lPosio when the latter sire raised, said upper sec- Vitnesses:

and hinged sec tions carried by the well one In testimony whereof I havehereunto set above the other and adapted respectively to my hand inpresence of two subscribing fill in the spaces between the horizontalporwitnesses. tions of the seats and'the ends of said backs FREDERICKBRAGKETT.

tions When'rhised being adapted to close said J. P. Tmnox, sfom snares.ARTHUR L. BRYANT.

